Tehran has developed detailed plans to attack communications cables in the Persian Gulf in the event that the United States and Israel strike Iran again. Two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters, reports UNN.
Details
The statements followed warnings from other Iranian officials that undersea cables in the region could become targets if the conflict resumes, should diplomatic efforts with Washington fail.
The two Iranian security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, provided few details and did not specify exactly how or where Tehran plans to carry out such attacks. However, one of them said Iran would seek to prevent repair work after the attacks in order to prolong disruptions to communications, particularly internet services, as much as possible.
"If Iran is attacked, there will be no more 'red lines' — everything will come under attack, from undersea cables to military bases, including secret ones," one of the officials said.
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He warned Washington against "playing with fire" and added that Iran has full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them.
Yadollah Javani, deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on Wednesday that Iran could attack seven major internet cables laid beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (a specialized agency of the United Nations), about 99% of the world's internet traffic passes through undersea cables. However, as Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications analytics firm TeleGeography, notes, the global consequences of such actions by Iran could be limited, since less than 1% of international network capacity passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait separates Iran from Oman and connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
The U.S. State Department and Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the statements by the Iranian security officials. No comments have been received from the Persian Gulf states either.